


Watch Dogs

by AnimalHaus (Viva_La_Vier)



Category: Divergent - All Media Types, Divergent Series - Veronica Roth, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Comedy, Crossover, Dark Humor, F/F, F/M, Gay, M/M, Military, Multi, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-20 20:55:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21288035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viva_La_Vier/pseuds/AnimalHaus
Summary: Being compared to his step-sister who seems braver than he’ll ever be and with Erudite spies on the hunt for Divergents, is Eren’s dream of becoming a Dauntless elite as simple as he thinks?
Relationships: Hange Zoë/Levi, Jean Kirstein/Eren Yeager, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart, Sasha Blouse/Connie Springer
Comments: 20
Kudos: 39





	1. Trust the Test

**Author's Note:**

> Prior to reading this story, here are some notes I recommend reading:
> 
> 1) This is a crossover AU. All of the characters are from the AoT/SnK universe, but the world itself is straight out of the Divergent series. That being said, credit to both of the creators, and while neither of the elements I’ve brought together are my own ideas, this story itself is. Please do not steal any of my concepts (however, you may ask permission to use them, and I will let you do it with credit).
> 
> 2) This story more closely follows the telling-style of the AoT/SnK universe, as it is in the third person and it “follows” multiple characters rather than a first-person account of one character like Divergent. Each character’s backstory also ties into the Divergent universe in a very neat way, so I recommend knowing a bit about both series before reading Watch Dogs.
> 
> 3) There is romance in this story, but not really any “smut,” so if you’re looking for that, you might want to find a different fiction. Also, before you get your hopes up, nobody in this fiction is aged up, aged down, or anything like that, so that means no Eren x Levi since I think it’s pedophilic. 
> 
> 4) This fic contains a lot of my own ideas and some pretty horrendous language, so fucking prepare yourself. Also, you’ll probably see your favorite character pop up, since almost everyone from the AoT/SnK universe makes an appearance in here, and most major characters in it are also big players in Watch Dogs.
> 
> 5) Comments, questions, kudos, and bookmarking is always welcome, and compliments make my day! Also, if you like Skyrim and/or vampires, you should check out my other work, Kindred!

•** ANNIE **•

“Nice.”

After Saturday accountability, the Erudite leader inspected each of his Warriors. These were the strongest of them. They were trained for Dauntless, and bound there soon. 

Scrolling through a window on his computer, Zeke curled his lip in approval at their practice Fear Simulation and Aptitude Test scores:

_Braun, Reiner . . . 12:16.52 . . . Dauntless_

_Hoover, Bertholdt . . . 18:57.23 . . . Dauntless_

_Leonhart, Annie . . . 15:11.39 . . . Dauntless_

“Very nice. You all are more than prepared to choose this week, and, as we have a high score today, I have finally selected the leader of this operation.”

Zeke strode along the thin walkway that led out of his quarters and into the crowded-but-silent Erudite common, which Annie had always described as a “glorified library.”

That about summed up her faction as a whole. 

The Erudite were good at sums. Zeke, however, was better at training his Warriors. Years ago, they’d cleansed Amity completely of Divergents and no one batted an eye. There’d been cases of missing people, investigated by the Military Police—partner teams of Dauntless and Candor detectives—but they’d never tied the loose ends.

That’s because Zeke always held them; those loose ends, or anything that frayed. Including three children with unstable families, or no families at all, who’d turned sixteen this year.

“Braun, my boy,”

Annie did not move—she couldn’t, bring stuck at attention whenever Zeke was around—but she saw the flash of his deep, blue sleeves as he grasped her comrade’s shoulders. “You will lead Leonhart and Hoover. You decide how to pick each Divergent from the faction, and when the time is right to do away with them.”

Reiner nodded stiffly, hardly moving either.

“Yes, Chief.”

“Good. Good.”

She had to admit that she hated how he said most things twice. They were supposed to be in an intelligent faction; it wasn’t like they didn’t understand anything the first time.

“And Leonhart, congratulations on being the only survivor of our female compatriots. I haven’t a doubt that you’ll be a certain match for Dauntless.”

_ Oh, goodie. I can’t wait to meet these stab-happy assholes._

Annie nodded, too. There wasn’t much else to do. Zeke was boring. Every day, they trained hard, ate with one another, spent very occasional time with other Erudites their age, and ran stupid errands for some of the chief researchers.

“You’re probably wondering why I brought you here today, training aside. It’s to finally unveil my new project!”

Pulling a remote from his pocket, Zeke gestured to a tall, white box in the center of the room, about the size of an elevator. Before opening the box itself, he pressed a button that darkened the room so no one could see inside.

Annie had thought glass walls were a stupid choice to begin with, but Erudite certainly valued the substance, since all of the initiates put their blood onto it at the Choosing Ceremony.

“This is Top Secret, so you can’t discuss it with anyone, even on a need-to-know basis. It’s still a work in progress, but, look.”

When Zeke clicked a second button, nothing came out of the box. Annie wanted to gaze at either of her comrades to gauge whether or not they were as confused as she, but she dared not move.

Bless those who defied Zeke’s orders. They always wound up ashes somewhere.

“Go on; don’t be shy. Take a look, you three. See what _real_ modern science can do.”

Finally, she’d gotten permission to move.

Something Zeke rarely gave, which Annie took for granted. Before the boys, she strode towards the box, wondering in the back of her mind whether or not this was some sick, final test.

_ Either something is going to come out and eat me, or this is another one of Chief’s little peacock displays._

Inside the box was a man, standing at crisp attention.

_ Ah._

_Definitely the display. Geez, what a dick._

“Why isn’t he doing anything?”

The Erudite leader held up a single finger.

“Candidate P6, touch your toes.”

At his command, the man bent his back, reaching his hands down to his feet.

“What..._is_ he?”

Annie wondered if that was what she, Reiner, and Bertholdt looked like to him. After all, they didn’t dare defy his wishes out of fear of what he’d do to them. Was this man the same way?

No. He didn’t even have a name.

“He’s a Divergent. Used to be factionless, until my researchers picked him up. Isn’t he beautiful? Now, we can cleanse society of Divergents without killing them. We can be truly merciful.”

To Annie’s terrified chagrin, Zeke smiled.

“With the Yeager Serum, we can make them _our soldiers.”_

• **MIKASA** •

Every day, before school, the Dauntless kids jumped out of the train. 

And every day, when they did, Eren dragged his step-sister out to watch the event. However tired she’d grown of it, Mikasa would trudge through hell for her brother.

Speaking of which, she knew she was going to, soon. Eren wanted to join Dauntless so badly that Mikasa had accepted she’d be enduring their initiation.

“Look how cool they are! They’re like heroes!”

“They’re our age. We go to school with them, you know.”

Mikasa knew what Eren wanted to do, too: to be a Watch Dog. A Dauntless elite guardsman. Ever since they were children, Hannes had told them about the different Dauntless jobs, and about the initiation process, the tattoos, piercings; the guts and the glory.

Soon, it’d be their turn to go through it all.

But Mikasa wasn’t ready to tell their parents that.

Grisha and Carla thought she wanted to stay in Abnegation. Surely, though, they’d understand she wanted to protect their son.

At the thought, Mikasa brushed her hand against the fringes of her gray scarf—the one Eren had put around her neck when she’d been cold—the only object she’d sworn she’d never part with.

“Soon, I won’t just be watching anymore! I’ll get to jump out myself and be a real Dauntless!”

Mikasa offered him only a smile. She’d become expert at hiding whatever difficulty she faced in following his decisions.

Even Hannes had discussed the danger of becoming a Dauntless initiate, and it wasn’t like the other factions, where the only price to pay was becoming factionless.

No. In Dauntless initiation, kids _died._

She swallowed the thought and instead focused on the approaching children dressed in different shades of blue, many of which had glasses.

Including her good friend Armin.

Abnegation was always early. They arrived places before anyone else, and mostly waited in silence. Except for Eren, of course, because it was a well-known fact in their quaint, gray neighborhood that Grisha’s son was definitely Dauntless-positive.

“Hey, guys. Have you heard that Zeke Yeager is visiting our school today? He’s giving us the Choosing Ceremony lecture after lunch.”

Without asking his permission, Mikasa straightened Armin’s glasses. They were always a little crooked when he showed up, so she’d secretly wished he’d get smaller ones. They were a bit too big for his face.

“Why would I care about that? I’m much more excited for the Aptitude Test!”

“Because he’s the leader of our faction. Faction leaders don’t just show up at school every day.”

“Eren,”

Mikasa set her hand on her brother’s shoulder, wishing he would calm down. After all, when she looked past him, the other factions were already beginning to file through the school doors. “Maybe he has something important to say. I know you’ve been set on Dauntless, but you have to be sure.”

“I am sure! What are you guys going to pick?”

Armin’s lips sealed tightly. He and Mikasa had discussed the topic a few times, and he was wildly unsure, even though she’d told him how well he fit into Erudite. 

“It doesn’t matter,”

Mikasa replied, tucking her scarf into the collar of her modest, unflattering dress. “What does is that we’re about to be late for the most important day of school.”

• **EREN** •

“How does Erudite even choose a leader? Like, how do they know who’s the smartest?”

Armin held a finger to his own mouth, signaling for Eren’s silence, and whispered:

“Zeke Yeager has the highest IQ score. That’s why he’s our leader.”

“What’s IQ?”

_ “Shh.”_

Mikasa all but put the scarf over his mouth. If he kept talking over Zeke, he’d miss the faction lecture.

“Today, you are all about to take the most important test of your lives, as soon you will chose where you belong for the rest of them.”

Zeke really liked his buttons. He flipped one on the projector control, which changed the slide to one with the five faction symbols on it.

It wasn’t very informative, since everyone already knew what they were, until he turned them to reveal all five Ceremony bowls.

Eren had already known the stones were Abnegation. Grisha had told him the story of his own Choosing Ceremony; of how he bled over those rocks as a younger man.

Yet he couldn’t take his eyes off the burning coals.

Soon, his blood would sizzle over them.

“I’m here to urge you into the proper path,”

Zeke pushed his own glasses into his face, flashing his young audience a charismatic smile. “Which is the path you genuinely belong on. We ask you to trust the test because your result is based on an extremely accurate process of elimination. Our research shows that those who choose their result at the Ceremony are more likely to remain within their faction.”

“This is putting me to sleep.”

“Do you want me to shake you?”

Mikasa didn’t sound like her patience was wearing as thin as it was. Faction leaders only came to school once a year, and it was to deliver this speech before the Aptitude Test. Being unsure of whether or not she wanted follow Eren into Dauntless, she wanted to listen to Zeke’s every word.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be quiet.”

“Remember, for those of you who choose to transfer, you’ll also be leaving your families. One thing you should never forget—which is even inscribed inside your history textbooks—is that your faction _is_ your family, regardless of your place of origin.”

The Erudite leader smiled more widely.

“You’re adults now. Say it with me: faction before blood.”

Eren rolled his eyes. Unbeknownst to him, he was the only member of the assembly who hadn’t said it.

• **MIKASA** •

“Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Artlert, you’re the first two.”

Alphabetical order sucked. Sometimes, Mikasa wished that Grisha had changed her last name. That wasn’t because she didn’t love her original family, but rather because she was chosen first for _everything._

That was how it would be for the Choosing Ceremony.

Mikasa’s blood would be the first within any of the five bowls, and she herself would probably be the first transfer.

Then again, that depended on her test results. After hearing Zeke’s lecture, she was slightly more open-minded to going somewhere else...as much as Eren definitely needed her protection.

“Ready?”

Armin asked before they parted ways, standing in the corridor where two rooms remained closed off for testing throughout the day.

Mikasa nodded.

She was not ready, but how many of her peers really were?

“Right this way, young lady.”

Urged a voice from behind the computer, which Mikasa obeyed. When she turned to look at who’d spoken, she spotted an Erudite woman dressed in a suit.

Atypical.

She looked like she hadn’t bathed for days—having quite the messy, auburn ponytail—although her glasses fit nicer than Armin’s.

“A curious Abnegation, hm?”

When she stood, Mikasa quickly found that she was taller. Much taller.

“My name is Hanji Zoë. It’s nice to meet you, and anyone else with an open mind! Now,”

Hanji clasped her hands together enthusiastically, which reminded Mikasa that she hadn’t been there for hours. In fact, she was the woman’s first subject for the day. “Do you like serum or shots?”

“I’ll take the serum.”

The Erudite nodded, pouring the substance into what looked like a shot glass.

_ Is that...a teapot?_

Mikasa had figured the serum would have at least come from a beaker, or something to that effect.

“I actually helped develop this serum, but I don’t have time to discuss it now. If you want to hear about it, I’ll explain every detail after testing ends!”

“Thank you, but I’ll have to pass,”

When Mikasa noticed the reclining chair in the room’s corner, she sat in it, supposing it was for her. “Are you a researcher?”

She couldn’t stop herself from looking around. After all, the room’s walls were mirrors, and they didn’t exactly have those in Abnegation. Well, not ones that were any bigger than Mikasa’s head.

She could see her whole body, now. The awkward shape of her dress, and its dreary gray. As much as she loved her adoptive family, could she really stay in Abnegation just to comfort Carla and Grisha?

Could she really join Dauntless just to protect Eren?

“No, actually. I’m the Head of Military Intelligence! We pair up with Dauntless to optimize soldier performance. I used to be a researcher, but Zeke thought my talent was wasted. Besides, I met my husband that way, so I don’t mind, really!”

This woman was married?

If that wasn’t the most surprising news of the day, then Mikasa didn’t know what was.

“All right. Lean back, then, and drink the serum when you’re ready. Try to get it all in one sip, or it might make you sick.”

That was good to know. The glass certainly resembled a shot for a reason.

Without hesitating any longer, Mikasa drank.

**• • •**

When she awoke, Mikasa stood alone in the woods.

No one was there.

No one but her.

“Hello?”

She called out, just to make sure, but there wasn’t an answer.

Behind her, something rustled.

A shadow moved.

Mikasa tried her best to follow it; her heart raced. She’d always been able to tell when she was in danger, and now was one of those times.

_ “Choose.”_

It was that woman’s voice again; Hanji Zoë’s. Only, this time, Mikasa could not see her.

Suddenly, two objects emerged, so real that she could hold them if she wanted.

Except they weren’t, and how tangible this simulation was had begun to freak Misaka out.

On one treestump, there was a flower, on which she noticed a caterpillar. As beautiful as the plant was, she didn’t want to disturb the little creature. On the other was a knife.

Suddenly, Mikasa’s memory flashed, and her breath caught.

She’d done horrible things with knives. Horrible—but justified—things.

Mikasa didn’t have to think twice to know which Eren would pick when it was his turn, assuming all the sims were the same.

_“You take too long.”_

Before her eyes, both objects disappeared. Now, she was stuck with nothing, in a situation that only worsened. 

She heard growling where the rustling had been, and out from the bushes emerged a wolf.

Well, she’d seen why the knife would have been a good idea, now.

The woods reminded her of where her and Eren used to gather firewood, in that small patch of forested area near the Abnegation houses. She never went there alone, even if she did bring the bulk of the wood home for Carla.

Never had she seen a wolf there, either. But if she did, she know what she’d do, and that was whatever it took.

Whatever it took to protect Eren.

As the wolf approached, Mikasa lifted a rock from the ground, feeling its sharpness in her hands before throwing it at her slobbery target.

“Stay back!”

She yelled, and the wolf’s tail sunk between its legs.

Mikasa recognized it as a sign of submission; she and Armin had spoken about it when they were studying for a biology test.

If she wanted to get rid of this wolf, she’d have to master it.

She was on the right track.

“Get away from me, wolf!”

Mikasa threw another rock. The beasts’ ears sunk.

After a couple more well-placed throws, the wolf turned tail and retreated into the woods.

Then, the trees melted away.

Mikasa found herself on the bus.

It looked like the one to school, almost, except the people on it weren’t students like her.

Most of them were adults, probably headed to The Hub, since they weren’t going to work, and because they were from all the different factions.

It was strange for Mikasa to see so many mixing colors in a place that wasn’t school.

As she pondered, a man just behind her, dressed in black pants, suspenders, and a crisp, white shirt, dropped his briefcase.

A Candor man.

Unfortunately for him, the latch on it hadn’t been secured, and the sheets within it had come spilling out of their respective folders.

Mikasa could see some _CLASSIFIED_ labels on some of them, and even _SECRET_ on others. She could skim through them, if she wanted to.

No. That wasn’t right.

“Sir, don’t worry. I’ll help.”

But when she bent down to pick up the stray papers, the bus faded away.

**• • •**

“Stay there. Don’t move.”

Mikasa awoke in the chair.

Her vision was awfully blurry after coming out of the simulation, although she’d forgotten she was in one. No one told her the test was going to seem so real.

“This is...I’ve never seen anything like it,”

Hanji fiddled with the keys, clearly pressed _ENTER_, and then turned to Mikasa. “Your choices were quite interesting, my dear! You should come back later so I can study you! I’ll even pay you for your time.”

“What do you mean?”

Mikasa’s head hurt too much to process Hanji’s odd vocalizations. She’d have to have everything dumbed down enough for her.

“You should probably come to this corner. One way or another, I still have to tell you your result.”

Nodding, Mikasa stood, nearly running into the wall. 

She was fortunate enough to have been blessed with excellent balance, although Armin wasn’t so. Mikasa wondered if she’d hear a thud from the other room when he fell.

“What did I get, then?”

Hanji pointed to the manually-entered result with a smile.

“Abnegation.”

“Is that because I helped the man with the papers? But what about the dog? I know I sort of lost it in there; I—“

“Listen, Mikasa, you have to leave. You’re prohibited from discussing your test results with anyone until after the Choosing Ceremony, got it?”

Mikasa nodded, but she had so many questions forming in the back of her mind.

“But, before you go, I want to tell you something for your safety: you have to say the serum made you sick. Go home early, okay? Your test results...”

Hanji rested a sympathetic hand on Mikasa’s shoulder. “They were very fascinating! Actually...inconclusive. You tested for Abnegation, Dauntless, and Candor.”

She didn’t understand.

_Three_ factions? How was that possible? The test was supposed to give her _one._

“How?”

“It’s very, very rare, but...it could get you killed. And, Mikasa, for the purposes of good research, I’d so much like to keep you alive! So, please, go home and don’t worry. I’ve manually entered Abnegation as your result, for your safety.”

When Hanji released her and opened the door, Mikasa felt dizzy, and not just because of the serum.

She had tested for three factions.

She was Divergent.

• **EREN** •

Abnegation didn’t watch television.

Instead, they read the digital paper or tuned into the radio. Indulging too much in entertainment was considered vain, among other things.

Like listening to music, something that Eren had always enjoyed. He bet he could hear all he wanted in Dauntless.

Maybe they even appreciated the hard stuff like him.

_ “After an extensive trial period, the Council has finally signed into law The Dual-Faction Job Act, proposed by Erudite Leader Zeke Yeager, which allows teams of individuals from two or more faction to team up to more efficiently solve our society’s problems. Meanwhile, the search for missing person Historia Reiss—“_

Eren shut off the radio. The news was always boring, anyway.

“Mikasa, Mrs. Dok marked you absent from Law yesterday. Where’d you go?”

It wasn’t like Mikasa to miss her classes, so, naturally, Eren was a bit confused.

“The serum made me sick, so they sent me home early.”

“How’d the test go, though? Did you see the wolf, too? It looked super real!”

“The test was fine.”

Though Mikasa felt physically better, having dressed herself in a warm sweater and a pair of pants, which was much better for doing her sit-ups than that lousy dress, she still pondered every other minute about her inconclusive aptitude.

“What was your result?”

Whispered Eren, a wry smile spread across his face. He knew he wasn’t supposed to discuss the topic, but that made doing it so much more fun.

“You know we’re not supposed to talk about that.”

“The man who gave me the shot said it doesn’t matter, since most kids do anyway.”

“Then you tell me first.”

Eren was fairly certain that everyone in the neighborhood knew his test result, but that didn’t mean he wanted to talk about it any less.

“I got Dauntless, just like I wanted! If trusting my result really gives me a better chance of staying in my new faction, that means I should succeed for sure!”

“So you _did_ pay attention to the lecture.”

“Okay, fine, you caught me,”

Eren leaned against the wall, crossing his feet atop his bed. “Now tell me your result.”

“I got Abnegation.”

When he heard, Eren looked disappointed. He was a mess, and acknowledged that he could be hard to live with, but he’d truly hoped to stay with Mikasa, or Armin, at least.

“Oh. Does that mean you’re staying with mom and dad?”

Misaka shook her head.

“I don’t know yet.”

“What time is it?”

Eren hated watches. Sticking to a regimented schedule often frustrated him, so he relied on the grapevine to get him places on time. 

Unfortunately, that meant when Grisha received his report cards, there were always plenty of tardies on them.

Mikasa checked her watch for him. Like everything else in Abnegation, it was gray, modest, and simple. 

Eren couldn’t express how happy he was to stand on the edge of breaking free from that dreary theme.

“Nine thirty.”

“That means you only have three hours to choose. Can you?”

Smiling slightly, Mikasa nodded.

“I’ve never had an issue with deciding before.”

Eren couldn’t disagree.

**• • •**

Two hours before the Choosing Ceremony, Grisha had asked to meet with his son.

Eren was a few minutes late, but, as he found his father still drinking his bland, morning coffee, he realized that he’d fully expected his tardiness.

“Good morning.”

Carla turned her head to greet Eren with a smile, then continued rinsing off the breakfast dishes.

“Hey, dad. What do you need?”

It couldn’t have been firewood.

Him and Mikasa didn’t have enough time before the Ceremony to gather any, since they had to leave in an hour, and Carla still wanted to give them both haircuts so she could show them off at The Hub. 

“I wanted to speak with you, and to give you something very important,”

From his pocket, Grisha held up a key on a string. What it was supposed to unlock, Eren wasn’t sure. “Under no circumstances may you part with this object. Do you understand?”

Eren had to admit that the gesture confused him, but he slipped the key around his neck without a question, tucking it beneath his gray long-sleeve.

“Yes, father.”

“Good. You’re going to need it one day, Eren, and Mikasa, too. No matter what faction you choose, your mother and I are both very proud of you. You and Mikasa both. But before the ceremony, you must make your mother and I two promises.”

Grisha always had a wise glint in his eyes, but never quite like this.

That’s when Eren realized it:

His father knew.

He knew that Eren was going to transfer to Dauntless.

“For your mother, and for Mikasa, stay alive. People are going to need you, Eren. You can’t help them if you’re dead. Understood?”

Eren nodded stiffly, holding the key around his neck within his fist.

“You’ve already made the second promise, which is to protect that key. You can never trust another with it.”

He didn’t understand why the object wasn’t so important, unless it was some sort of odd test from his father.

Would Grisha ever see him after he left for Dauntless?

“I will.”

Eren promised, in turn receiving a pat on the shoulder from his father.

“All right, now. It’s time for haircuts,”

Carla shut the running water off, drying her hands on a simple towel. “Eren, fetch Mikasa for me. We’re short on time.”

• **YMIR** •

Everyone at school believed Ymir, quite possibly because she’d grown up Candor. Seldom were the things she said, however, true.

Like, when people asked her if she was excited for the Choosing Ceremony, or the Aptitude Test, or the other coming-of-age garbage she’d been born into, and she said something along the lines of:

_“Yeah, sure, sounds like__ fun,”_ or _“couldn’t think of anything better.”_

Even though she fucking hated Candor, she had to admit that it came with its perks.

The best was that everyone left her alone, just like she wanted, at least when she showed up for school. 

Unfortunately, though, chaotic events like the Ceremony were mandatory, so as soon as Ymir stepped into The Hub after her excruciatingly long walk up the stairs, she knew she’d be trapped inside for a few hours, at the minimum.

At least she knew where she was going.

Ymir was searching for someone, and had reasons to believe that individual was living under a pseudonym. Being Candor also meant she had quite the amount of spying freedom, since people would believe any excuse she invented to distract them.

Because, as long as she dressed in black and white, everyone was gullible as shit.

So, two weeks ago, she took the bus to the opposite corner of the city in pursuit of a lead, barricaded herself inside the Abnegation church when the Dauntless guard caught onto her trail, and overheard a conversation that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.

She _did_ know where she was going, and what she was doing.

Ymir was searching for Krista Lenz, the illegitimate daughter of Abnegation’s faction leader, Rod Reiss. From the information she’d acquired, Krista should have been sitting with Amity, although Ymir recognized she’d look out of place if she approached her directly.

Instead, since Ymir’s name came later in the alphabetical selection order, she was going to the request station to move herself to the delayed group.

That way, she could join Krista’s faction, although she hoped the girl didn’t choose Candor.

As Ymir approached the station, however, someone else was already there. She was just shorter than herself, her pitch-black hair tied into an Abnegation bun.

“What, unsure about which faction you want, Stiff?”

The girl turned around to meet her gaze, her eyes suggesting no nonsense.

“So, you’re a quiet Stiff, eh? Why’d you delay yourself? Not sure about leaving mum and dad?”

Ymir inputted her own name into the system, watching as it disappeared and rematerialized into a small box on the bottom. 

When she turned around, the girl was gone. 

There were three names in the box:

_Mikasa Ackerman_

_Marco Bott_

_Ymir Fritz_

Well, she couldn’t have been Marco.

“Mikasa. That’s not Italian, is it?”

After learning the girl’s name, Ymir dismissed herself from the station to sit with the other Candor.

After all, it was twelve twenty-five.

The Ceremony would begin soon.

• **MIKASA** •

Mikasa hated the word “Stiff.”

It was a pejorative term used only towards the Abnegation, specifically referring to their lack of individualism and toleration for deviance.

She couldn’t see why being selfless was so bad, aside from the fact that her lifestyle was generally boring. Attending school and living with Eren had made each day much more tolerable, but at least one of those things she’d never do again.

The changes Mikasa were about to face felt unfair.

“Welcome, everyone. If you could all take your seats, we’ll begin the Ceremony in a moment.”

Traditionally, the leader of Abnegation presided over the Choosing Ceremony. There he was—in the flesh—Rod Reiss.

Mikasa had to admit that he dressed more eccentrically than most Abnegation, though that was probably because of his status. He was not an attractive man, but remained well-groomed, his dark hair elegantly slicked back.

“It is my honor to welcome you all to the annual Choosing Ceremony. Parents, some of you have been here before to attend the selections of your older children. If your child is now a productive member of one of the five factions, please stand.”

When a few parents in the room stood—some couples, and a few stragglers—Mikasa couldn’t help but look around.

She found quite strange that Grisha remained seated, since Zeke was Erudite’s leader. Didn’t that count for something?

“Please give these folks a round of applause! Society would not endure without our very selfless parents.”

Mikasa didn’t understand how ironic that was.

“Now, now, onto your selections. I know most of you are very eager to step into your adulthood and claim your place within the faction of your choice. When you drip your blood into one of these bowls, each marked with its respective faction symbol, you make a commitment to remain loyal to that faction for the rest of your life. Remember, faction before blood.”

_“Faction before blood.”_

This time, Mikasa heard Eren say it.

Rod nodded, his expression proud.

“First to the podium, Armin Artlert.”

Something hard shoved against her tricep. When she looked, it was Eren’s elbow.

“What gives?”

“Why aren’t you first? You’re supposed to be first.”

Mikasa was careful to whisper, since the Ceremony had started. If anyone heard them talking, they’d find it wildly disrespectful, especially since Abnegation weren’t suppose to be loud.

“I moved myself to the delayed list.”

“Why would you do that?”

She winced when Armin’s hands shook as he held the knife. He’d always been skiddish; it wouldn’t be easy for him to make himself bleed.

“I wanted more time to choose.”

Finally, Armin slit open his hand.

The wound looked deep. Out spilled more blood than necessary, which dripped onto the floor before anything else.

Well, that wasn’t how the Ceremony was supposed to go.

At least he wouldn’t be able to hesitate. He’d definitely bleed on the first thing he held it over.

Biting his lip to stifle a cry of pain, Armin walked alongside each bowl, not stopping to hover his squirting hand above one:

The one containing shards of clear glass.

_ “Erudite.”_

Misaka felt relieved when Armin’s faction offered him a standing ovation, but more so when they gave him a band-aid. He would certainly need a doctor when he returned home, and Erudite was the best place to find one.

“Next, Sasha Blouse.”

The girl, straight-faced, emerged from Amity’s designated sector, dressed in brightly-colored farm clothes. In her hand, she held something wrapped in a thin coating of foil.

Mikasa could smell it from her spot in Abnegation.

_ Is that...a potato?_

Sasha held up a single finger, sealed the food, and placed it in her pocket before descending the stairs.

Grumbling audibly, she slid the knife across her hand as if it were some strangely practiced action, then let her first drop of blood fall onto the sizzling coals.

_ “Dauntless.”_

In the Amity sector, a man held back tears. Mikasa presumed he was the girl’s father.

His sadness was understandable.

Sasha was the first transfer.

The first of many, it seemed, and many to Dauntless.

“Eren Yeager.”

By the time those before Eren had chosen, at least three Erudite, two Amity, including Sasha, one Abnegation—Connie Springer—and several Candor had chosen to leave their factions of origin for Dauntless.

From the corner of her eye, Mikasa saw Grisha grip Carla’s hand.

He knew what was about to happen, and Mikasa did, too.

At the podium, Eren grit his teeth, oddly taking his time with the slice that was supposed to have been quick. The cut looked as deep as Armin’s, only it did not drip blood, since Eren held his palm towards the sky.

Then, decisively approaching the bowls, Eren turned it over.

When it dripped into the coals, his life source simmered.

_ “Dauntless.”_

Mikasa heard Carla’s breath catch, and guilt stabbed her heart. She knew what she had to do, now, and that her adoptive mother probably wouldn’t understand at first.

In the end, though, she’d know.

Mikasa had to protect Eren.

She _had_ to.

“Mom,”

She offered Carla her hand. “It’s okay. Eren is brave; he’ll thrive there.”

Mikasa certainly wasn’t lying to her. Eren was brave—stupid, even—which was why he needed her to follow.

He’d need her to guide him.

“He is. It’s always been such a flaw of his, hasn’t it?”

Carla wiped away a tear, then accepted Mikasa’s hand in her free one.

“That’s the end of our standard order, but this year, three of our children have opted onto the delayed list. First, Mikasa Ackerman.”

Mikasa hesitantly released Carla’s hand.

“I love you, mom. Eren does, too.”

Before she descended the steps, she caught Grisha’s subtle smile. Her adoptive father usually wore the same, flat countenance, so seeing him happy reassured her of her choice.

Especially because Grisha knew. Somehow, he always did.

So, as Mikasa accepted the knife from Rod, drawing it across her palm, she decided it was high time she made peace with the choice she was about to make.

She let her blood escape is sanguinary holding place, splashing onto the coals below,

_ “Dauntless.”_

And behind her, heard the roaring cheers that only meant her new life was about to begin.

* * *

End of Chapter 1

**Next:** Eren, Mikasa, and friends finally discover what it really takes to make it through Dauntless initiation.

**Why Armin Didn’t Join Dauntless:** Okay, I owe you guys an explanation, so here goes nothing: it’s because 1) I don’t think it’s in character for him at this stage of his life, 2) I don’t think he could actually make it through Dauntless initiation, and 3) He actually needs to be in Erudite for the sake of the plot, so I _PROMISE_ all of you Artlert fans will totally see him again—actually quite a bit, but I can’t tell you how because that would spoil some things!

**Why ‘That Day’ Didn’t Happen: **It will later. There will literally be a chapter called ‘That Day,’ and you all will hate me for it.


	2. Coming of Age

• **EREN **•

102 flights.

Eren had sprinted down 102 flights of stairs, from The Hub to the street, then downhill until the collective Dauntless finally reached and climbed the train platform.

This had been Eren’s dream forever.

He couldn’t help but smile as the wind blew through his hair, which had become wildly mangy even though his mother cut it earlier that day.

The run was the first time he lost sight of Mikasa, too, yet he didn’t mind. Eren thought of her while he climbed, wondering how she faired in her set of Abnegation wedges. Those shoes were not meant for Dauntless activities; Eren could already feel his feet blistering.

“There you are,”

Eren heard a familiar voice address him as soon as he pulled himself over the side of the platform, his face turning an embarrassed shade of red when he realized it was Mikasa. “I lost you back there.”

She’d arrived before him.

“Yeah,”

He snorted, flustered. “Maybe because you ran ahead.”

“You Stiffs sticking together? You might want to break out of that habit if you’re going to survive here.”

Eren must have been popular that day, because someone else piped up after Mikasa.

But, unlike the former, this greeting was unwelcome.

“Just who the fuck are you calling _Stiff? _You’re the stiff one, thinking you can be an asshole. I’ve never even met you.”

Eren’s knuckles turned white at how tightly he held his fists. Because the sound of the incoming train grew louder, he wanted to try and restrain himself from fighting.

“Have you looked in the mirror lately? I thought Abnegation men had shaved heads, by the way. Now I can see it was probably just a rumor. That, or you probably didn’t fit in too well with your faction.”

No. Nope.

This fight was _happening._

Eren lunged towards his fellow transfer, holding him by the collar—by his stupid Candor shirt—and quickly pulled him in only to attempt a punch at his face.

It connected with a resounding thud, causing the Candor boy to rub his jaw.

Why wasn’t he punching back? Did he even realize which faction he’d joined?

Dauntless fought for a living.

“Eren!”

Mikasa instantly scolded him.

“Hey, _what the hell?”_

“Maybe, when we get to Dauntless, I’ll buy a razor, and when you look at yourself in the morning, you’ll see what would have happened to your hair if you chose Abnegation.”

“Eren, that’s enough. Let him go.”

Just when he was about to disobey Mikasa and hit the Candor again, Eren heard the sound of the approaching train grow deafeningly loud, and turned to observe its position.

Eren watched the Dauntless towards the end of the platform begin to jump on, and his heart beat faster in anticipation. For years, he’d been studying this spectacle, and it was finally his turn.

When he checked the other transfer once more, mainly to ensure the dude wasn’t going to clock him from behind, Eren noticed he was staring at something—no—_someone:_

Mikasa.

“Hey, eyes on your own paper, _pal.”_

Instead of responding, the Candor boy turned back to Eren with pink cheeks, like a child who’d just been caught stealing from a candy store.

Before Eren could make another attempt to beat him up, the train’s engine flew across the tracks beyond him.

It was time to run once more.

• **JEAN** •

Jean’s face hurt.

As he sat himself within the train—his back to the wall and ass to the floor, since it didn’t have any damn seats—he thought about how little sense Dauntless made.

They could have taken the stairs that had been only several meters away, but _no_, they were _Dauntless_, so they had to climb up the fucking platform and then throw themselves onto moving vehicles, and get punched by stupid, green-eyed Abnegation boys.

Or maybe that was just Jean’s luck.

That, and how beautiful that girl was, even though she’d been yelling at him. She’d been the reason he didn’t return that Stiff’s violent gesture. There was something about the boy’s eyes, too, that demanded Jean’s attention.

He couldn’t place the feeling, but all he knew was that he didn’t want to fight him.

“What’s your name?”

_Not again,_

Jean thought, wondering if he’d receive a greeting from that dumb Stiff’s fist when he turned his head again.

Except the boy who’d spoken wasn’t from Abnegation.

Instead, he wore a tasteful, blue coat—an Erudite—though he seemed awfully soft-spoken for one, or for a Dauntless.

“Jean. Jean Kirstein.”

“I’m Marco. It’s nice to meet you, Jean.”

Marco offered his hand for Jean to shake, forcing the Candor to admit to himself that this greeting was much nicer than the earlier punch in the face.

As soon as he took it, offering the freckled boy the world’s briefest handshake, Jean’s eyes widened.

From the car directly ahead, he saw a flash of gray, and then nothing.

That stupid Abnegation had just jumped out of the fucking train.

More flashes followed, blurs of blue, black, white, more gray, and even red, before Jean realized what was happening.

_Shit._

“We just jumped on the train, and now they want us to jump _off?”_

A resounding snort echoed from the corner of the car.

“Are you really surprised, Jean? I thought you were a smooth operator.”

Ymir.

Though she’d been in his faction for four years, Jean couldn’t admit that he liked her. If he did, he’d be lying, and that would be un-Candor of him. Sarcasm worked better.

“You’re pleasant as always, Ymir.”

Outside the train car, (which Jean could see clearly, because there weren’t any damn doors on it, either) a building’s roof came into view. Unlike most of the other structures in Chicago, this one’s top was covered in rough stones.

They wanted him to jump on _rocks._

_Oh, hell no,_

Jean thought, but it was now or never. If he wanted to excel in Dauntless—if he wanted to join the Military Police and work comfortably in the Abnegation sector, with both freedom and authority—he had to jump.

He braced himself as the end of the building’s roof came nearer, and Ymir leapt thoughtlessly from the train car just before him.

If only he could shut his mind off like that.

_One,_

Jean counted, trying not to let the experience go to his head, but he was overthinking it.

_Two,_

He was going to jump out of a moving train. This was stupid; it was so stupid, like that Abnegation boy and his dumb fists...

_Three!_

But Jean leapt anyway, and he put his whole body into the jump. Stifling a terrified scream as he sailed through the sky, he realized he could no longer stop himself, not even if he wanted to.

Not until he crashed to the ground, only to rouse the rabble, causing dust to rise and coat his black-sweater vest until it turned a dark shade of pewter.

Jean stood, his feet on firm ground, and exhaled unsteadily. He’d made it.

Even if he was the last one, he made it.

_ The things I do for my career,_

He thought. As if putting up with Candor his entire childhood hadn’t been bad enough, joining Dauntless was proving more difficult and less practical than Jean had estimated.

• **ANNIE **•

“You worms managed to utilize Dauntless’ public transportation for the first time. Don’t think that makes you a part of this fucking faction, because it doesn’t,”

Their drill instructor wasn’t pleasant. He was an older man with green, sunken-in eyes and an obviously short temper. As he inspected the ranks of initiates—the transfers held separately from the Dauntless-born—he looked at each one the same, like he’d burn the ground they walked on. “What does is this six weeks of initiation, if you can stand up straight at the end of it. Now each of you line the fuck up and sign out your gear. And don’t you break it, or I’ll personally kick your ass off this roof to pay the Goverment back!”

Annie began a single-file train towards an open closet, which presumably held the gear each of them needed for training. Others began to fall in behind her, waiting silently.

It was probably best not to talk, with the drill instructor lurking about.

Speaking of which...

“What the fuck does your last name start with, initiate?”

When the D.I. turned up again, his eyes stared straight into Annie’s, as deep as two, black holes. Somehow, he’d sunken down to her level, too, even though she was one of the shortest initiates.

“An ‘L,’ sir.”

She thought it best to speak simply—obediently—and lock away any fear she might have felt, although the D.I. did not shake her much. After all, Annie was going to be Dauntless, and Dauntless were not afraid.

“An ‘L.’”

The D.I. stood straight, assuming his regular height, and then yelled loud enough for the entire line to hear:

_ “AN ‘L!’ DO YOU WORMS NOT KNOW ALPHABETICAL ORDER?”_

Annie turned around, immediately registering Reiner behind her.

Braun. A ‘B’ name. She shoved him ahead, retreating further along the line. 

Soon, everyone was talking, asking one another their last names until the entire transfer order had sorted itself.

_ “ARE YOU DONE YET? 20 PUSH-UPS EACH, RIGHT NOW, FOR FUCKING UP MY LINE!”_

Push-ups. Of course, the true test of a soldier.

Though Annie had trained for Dauntless initiation for years, she grit her teeth, descending to the front-leaning rest for her exercise.

She had to admit to herself that the next six weeks were going to be a pain in the ass.

**• • •**

“We don’t expect you to be a bunch of Erudite, but you’re not going to survive our initiation if you’re a fucking idiot,”

The D.I. offered a cordial introduction, particularly after his earlier display. “I’m Keith Shadis, the Head drill instructor. This year, I’ll be working with the Dauntless-born, but don’t worry. You transfers will get yours soon.”

Recalling Zeke’s remarks on the D.I.s, her next one would likely be as close to a copy of Shadis as Dauntless could find.

“Now that you all have your gear, secure it. Any missing pieces will cost you your possible membership to this faction.”

Each of them had been given bags for the gear, luckily. That made it easy to keep track of all the parts.

It was just like what she’d worn to training with Reiner and Bertholdt: a system of harnesses, which would buckle onto her shoulders, chest, back, and legs, with grappling hook and air tank systems. 

Quite literally—at some point—the Dauntless initiates would learn to fly.

“Check it out, initiates,”

Shadis turned his wrist upside-down, revealing a button on some breed of digital watch.

_What is with men and their stupid remotes?_

When he pressed it, a panel slid, opening the roof to reveal absolutely nothing. The darkness reminded Annie of the crate Zeke had shown her, with the dreadful, zombie-like man inside.

It made her think of the mission she was there to accomplish, and how little she cared about it.

Annie just wanted to go home; to see her father again. 

There was no better way than this.

“To get into the Dauntless compound, you’ve got to jump.”

As soon as the D.I. spoke again, Annie wished there _was_ a better way. Leaping into the unknown seemed a stretch to her, as far as stupid ideas went.

“Do I have any volunteers?”

Someone’s hand shot up, and remained in the air long enough for Annie to see whose it was, at least before somebody else pulled it down by the wrist.

It had been a boy’s arm—an Abnegation transfer’s.

_Abnegation? What is he, insane?_

“Eren, don’t. Someone has to make sure it’s safe.”

“Mikasa—“

_ “Don’t._ Jump if they send someone after me. This could be a trick.”

No, the boy wasn’t crazy. It was the girl. She was batshit to go first, but correct about the fact that the jump could have been a trap.

What if Dauntless killed their first initiate each year? It would serve to teach the rest a lesson about what happens when a new-blood gets too cocky.

“Well, would you look at that? The Stiff has a real set of balls.”

Remarked a tall girl beside Annie, her hair tied back into a short ponytail. She was a Candor transfer, like the one Annie had seen eat dirt earlier when he jumped out of the train.

Annie only chuffed, annoyed, but her breath caught mid-sound when she watched Mikasa lean into the abyss, disappearing into the darkness below.

_Damn, she wasn’t bluffing, was she?_

Knowing it was only a matter of time before her own turn arrived, Annie watched, her eyes unable to leave the black space where Mikasa had stood just moments ago.

That girl was insane, but maybe that was a part of making it into Dauntless that Annie needed to embrace.

Maybe a disregard for her own life was just another cost of her returning home.

• **MIKASA **•

For the second time in her life, Mikasa had let go.

The first had been in her Abnegation house—the one just shy of the woodlands near her community—where factionless bandits had killed both of her parents.

Where Eren had saved her, and she’d come alive.

Then, Mikasa hadn’t felt like she was in control of herself. It was as if something else had taken the reigns.

A demon, maybe. Something truly evil, capable of depriving a man of his own life.

Falling felt like that, almost, except minus the horrific corruption.

Falling felt _good._

In the moments Mikasa drifted aimlessly through the air, whether she died or not, she felt at peace with her decisions. Like she’d done the best she could, although a part of her burned hot like always; the part that wanted to protect Eren every second of every day.

Then, her body connected with something, bouncing slightly at the impact.

When Mikasa turned her head, she saw the black thread of a sturdy net. 

Jumping was safe, after all. Eren was going to be okay.

“What, did you get pushed?”

Before Mikasa had too much time to process her arrival, she heard a man’s voice. He was short—much shorter than she—and wore his hair in the tightest undercut Mikasa had ever seen. “What’s your name?”

He seemed awfully crass, but Mikasa didn’t believe she had a choice in the matter of answering him.

“Hard question? You only get to pick once, so make sure it’s good.”

“I’m Ackerman. Mikasa Ackerman.”

Throughout initiation, Mikasa would honor her family. Using their last name seemed the most fitting manner.

“First jumper, Ackerman.”

Said the man to a figure partially hidden in shadow, which then entered characters into a computer. 

Then, words appeared on a digital monitor which had been mounted to the wall:

_1] Ackerman_

_2]_

_3]_

_4]_

_5]_

_6]_

_7]_

_8]_

_9]_

_10] _

That must’ve been the jump order, but there were more than ten initiates on the roof.

So why were there only ten slots on the screen? Dauntless wasn’t going to cut everybody else, right? What did they want with that list?

Mikasa suppressed her urge to ask all the questions that buzzed within her mind. Luckily, the man with the tight haircut spoke before she had the chance:

“I’m Levi, your drill instructor. Hold onto your gear, follow Petra over there for your new clothes, and _don’t_ leave any shoe-prints on my floor unless you want to scrub them off with a toothbrush.”

Well, he was certainly charming. 

Nevertheless, Mikasa was going to need a Dauntless outfit for the sake of her dexterity. It wasn’t easy to move in Abnegation clothes, or a simple feat to run in shoes that weren’t made for exercise.

“You’ll have to forgive him. I know he can be...well, he can be intense. But he does mean really well.”

“How do you know him?”

Mikasa asked, noticing the sigil sewn onto Petra’s leather jacket: a pair of crossed wings, blue and white.

She was a Watch Dog.

“He’s my squad leader.”

“If he’s a Fence guard, then why is he also a drill instructor?”

Petra stopped by a station equipped with a table covered in rows of neatly folded clothing, each line segregated by size. Behind it was a structure with stalls, each with a curtain for privacy, and a large, metal vat.

_INCINERATOR_, the machine read. 

Mikasa worried about her scarf. They wouldn’t try to burn it, would they?

“I see you’re familiar with a few Dauntless jobs. Erwin Smith, our faction leader, wanted Levi to work on the tougher side of his personality, so he moved him to a D.I. assignment. He’s only there for your initiation, though. After that, he returns to us.”

“Hey, Petra, get the girl her clothes. We’ve got a whole bunch more initiates coming through,”

A tall man said from behind the clothing counter, offering Misaka a pair of mediums. “Here, try these on and make it fast.”

“Do you always have to be so difficult, Oluo?”

Asked Petra as Mikasa grabbed the garments, retreating into one of the curtained stalls to change.

**• • •**

Dauntless clothes did Mikasa justice.

She’d never seen a mirror as large as the one in the changing room, save where she’d taken her Aptitude Test. It was as longer than her body and much wider, and she could see the way her new outfit hugged curves she’d never cared to notice before.

That, and Abnegation apparel was notoriously unflattering. Rod Reiss was the only one in her old faction who ever wore anything different.

Mikasa’s first impression of Oluo wasn’t great, but she’d admit he had an eye for choosing clothes that fit her on the first try.

All initiate clothing was almost identical. They wore a pair of long, leather boots, and had black sneakers sent to their lockers for running, form-fitting long-johns, which were easy to strap their new gear over, and heathered shirts, which came in both short and long sleeve styles.

“At the commissary, you can purchase more shirts, pants, and sweaters, but you’re not allowed a leather jacket until you complete initiation,”

Oluo said when Mikasa emerged, pointing to the crest on the corner of her shirts. It featured a sigil of two, crossed swords. “Make sure anything you buy has this symbol on it. It means you’re an initiate. Now burn your old clothes and Petra will take you back to the jump site.”

Mikasa didn’t have a problem with tossing her Abnegation dress into the incinerator, taking the scrunchie out of her hair to release the tight bun she’d grown up with, or even watching her shoes crumble into ash.

All she wanted was to keep her scarf. It was not a memento of her old faction—not the way Dauntless would think—but something that made her feel safe. 

“Hey, initiate, _all_ of your clothes. You don’t need that Stiff stuff anymore.”

“I’m not burning this,”

Mikasa snapped, her tone immediately turning sour as she re-wrapped the scarf around her neck. “My brother gave it to me.”

“What part of _‘faction before blood’_ did you miss?”

Her temper boiled. It was rare that Mikasa ran hot, but when she did, she certainly wasn’t in the mood to take anyone’s shit.

“I don’t know what you do here, or how important you are, but I will fight you for my right to keep this, if that’s what you want.”

Oluo snorted, though there was a noticeable twinge of apprehension behind it.

So much for Dauntless being fearless.

“You can take it with you, but you won’t like what happens when Levi sees it.”

Mikasa found his answer satisfactory. Without another word, she followed Petra back to the jump site, where the wall monitor had been updated:

_1] Ackerman_

_2] Reiner_

_3] Eren_

_4] Annie_

_5] Jean_

_6] Sasha_

_7] Connie_

_8] Ymir_

_9] Krista_

_10] Marco_

She quickly scanned the area for Eren, who, at the moment, wasn’t there. Mikasa supposed somebody else had taken him to the clothing station.

“Are you Ackerman?”

Someone asked, causing her head to turn.

Mikasa had to look down to discover her interrogator. The girl was a bit shorter than she, but appeared just as sturdy, even in the Erudite clothes she still wore.

“Mikasa.”

“Why the different name choice?”

Inquired the girl, a question which Mikasa purposely avoided answering. She wouldn’t get into her family history with strangers.

“Who are you?”

Mikasa noted her hesitation, although she could tell the other’s pause wasn’t caused by reluctance or forgetfulness:

She was thinking.

“Annie Leonhart.”

“Good to meet you.”

“Is it? I think you’re still deciding that,”

Annie commented, briefly pointing at the ranking board. “I am. Interesting brother you’ve got, by the way.”

Mikasa let her expression give way upon Eren’s approach, a sliver of a smile tugging at her lips. He wore his Dauntless clothes like they’d been made just for him.

“You have no idea,” replied Mikasa as Petra summoned Annie to her next station.

“I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot of you, Mikasa.”

What that meant, Mikasa wasn’t sure, and suddenly, she’d forgotten to care at all.

Her brother had returned, his grin unrelenting, and to Mikasa, that smile was the most important thing in the world.

• **LEVI** •

Levi would be lying if he said his new trainees weren’t interesting.

The crowd was strange, to say the least, though he was somewhat impressed with them.

All eleven transfers had made it in once piece, at least for the time being. Levi would change that, if he had to.

He’d rather his initiates become factionless than dead, which was a thought process he personally dreaded. That was one reason, among many others, that he’d committed himself to turning each of them into trained killers.

Because, when a day passed during which Levi was responsible for these children, he wanted to be able to say that each one was ready for war.

First, however, he had to give the initiates the briefing that Erwin assigned him; the faction leader even went to the trouble of giving Levi a fat stack of notecards with suggestions on what to say.

Levi had thrown them in a garbage can where he knew Erwin would never bother looking.

“Before we begin official training, we’ve brought representatives from every Dauntless job to give you a presentation. That way, you can move through initiation with a goal,”

Levi turned on a television set behind his head, which displayed the same rankings as the screen on the wall. He hated Dauntless’ initiate meritocracy, but as it was part of Keith and Erwin’s program, he couldn’t refuse to rank them. “These are the top ten. They’ll change throughout your training, depending how you perform on each graded event. You can also gain or lose points for behavior,”

He paced as he spoke, unable to stand perfectly still, especially while delivering someone else’s speech. “There are jobs in Dauntless that are limited to a top ten ranking. They include Leadership, D.I., the Military Police, Military Intelligence, and Fence guard, also called the Watch Dogs. Other jobs include tattoo artist, cook, janitor, sector guard, train conductor, signal, and security. If you have any questions for them, they’re here to answer after our first round of fights. They’ll be watching, so if you’re looking for a job with them, do well.”

Levi had wondered before how the initiates would respond when he mentioned upcoming combat. Some seemed more shocked than others, which he thought was justified, as they hadn’t been taught anything yet. 

Unfortunately, when he’d told Keith that he didn’t want them to engage in any close-quarters combat before learning a few skills, his boss refused to compromise.

“First jumper, last jumper, step up to the podium. I’ll also need the first and last jumpers from the train stop.”

Four initiates—all transfers—approached Levi, three boys and a girl. He was particularly apprehensive about sending the woman to the mat, especially because the boy she was paired with was probably about seven feet tall.

The other boys, however—one with a fiery, green gaze, and the other with a thin, long face—seemed a better size match for each other.

“Train jumpers first, then roof jumpers,”

Levi announced, tying red flags to Misaka and Eren’s wrists, and blue ones to Jean and Bertholdt. “Your banner designates your fighting corner, when it’s your turn,”

More quietly, so Erwin and the others couldn’t hear him, he said:_ “good luck.”_

Behind the four combatants, he observed the other initiates whispering—placing their bets—probably.

Levi knew they’d soon see who was right or wrong, but altogether, he dreaded forcing them against each other, especially when he wanted them to make friends.

Being Dauntless was significantly easier with others to rely on, and these kids, being forced into competition, would probably have no one but themselves.

“Eren, Jean,”

Levi announced, removing a stopwatch from his pocket. “Time to fight.” 

* * *

End of Chapter 2

**Next:** Dauntless training starts with a bang, as expected. Meanwhile, Armin’s experience as a new Erudite proves much more interesting than he’d previously thought.

**Side Banter:** How do you think this crossover is going so far? I’d love to hear any mad predictions you guys have, or favorite characters. Let’s just say in about 2 chapters, some serious plot shit is going to start happening, and it’s not just going to be this awesome relationship and world-building garbage I’m doing. But there will be more of that, too, I promise.


End file.
